Clashes with the police and looting broke out on Sunday January 24 in several cities in the Netherlands, on the sidelines of protests against the curfew in place since Saturday to fight the Covid-19 epidemic, according to Dutch media and local authorities.

A water cannon and police dogs were deployed to Museumplein, a square in central Amsterdam, to disperse hundreds of protesters, according to public television NOS.

At least 100 people were arrested on the sidelines of the rally, Amsterdam city hall said in a statement Sunday, which estimates the number of demonstrators in the capital on Sunday at around 1,500.

A Covid-19 screening center burned down

In Eindhoven, in the south of the country, the police used tear gas to disperse a crowd of several hundred people, according to regional television Omroep Brabant.

Several vehicles were set on fire and businesses in Eindhoven Central Station were looted, according to Omroep Brabant.

"At least thirty people have been arrested," Eindhoven police told AFP, saying they did not have a record of any injured.

The Dutch NS rail company called on travelers to "avoid" Eindhoven Centraal station where train traffic was interrupted due, it said, to the intervention of emergency services nearby.

A Covid-19 testing center was also set on fire on Saturday evening in the village of Urk, in the north of the country, as the national curfew imposed by the government came into force, local authorities said.

"The fire in a screening center in Urk goes beyond all limits," Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said on Sunday.

First curfew since WWII

The Netherlands began its first curfew since World War II on Saturday.

It is forbidden to leave your home between 9 p.m. and 4:30 a.m., until at least February 9.

Any offender incurs a fine of 95 euros.

Certain exemptions are possible, in particular for people returning from funerals or those having to work during the curfew, on condition that they present a certificate of displacement.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Wednesday that the decision to institute a curfew had been bolstered by the spread of the British variant of Covid-19.

According to Mark Rutte, the curfew must avoid confinement, while since the start of the health crisis, the Dutch have never had to justify their movements.

In addition to having raised the opposition of certain deputies, including the leader of the extreme right Geert Wilders, the curfew arouses the anger of part of the population.

With AFP

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